


Ghost

by Kaylathebookworm



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27536875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaylathebookworm/pseuds/Kaylathebookworm
Summary: RWBYJNPR are high schoolers, who decide it would be fun to have a sleepover at a haunted house in their town. The house is haunted by the ghost of Oscar Pine, who has no idea what to do with this group of trespassers.Did I write a self-indulgent ghost!Oscar fic? Yes I did.
Comments: 33
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Is it crack? Is it fluff? Is it angst? I don't know!  
> I am willing to add to this if y'all want!  
> Also feel free to follow me on tumblr for fic updates and stuff at kaylathebookwormwrites!

“Weiss! Truth or dare?” asked Yang.

“Um, dare,” responded Weiss eloquently.

“Yes!” shouted Yang. “I dare you to spend a night in the haunted house up the street,” she finished, a malicious grin on her face.

“What? No.”

“But Weisssss,” whined Ruby, “you have to do it! It’s a dare!”

“I am  _ not _ doing that,” Weiss said finitely, turning her nose up. “Absolutely not.”

Nora gasped dramatically, slamming her hands down on the floor. “I have an idea! Let’s all spend the night there. We can make it a sleepover! Oh, this is gonna be awesome!!!”

“Wait,” started Jaune, “you want us to spend the night in the creepy Oz house? There’s a really angry ghost there! This is such a bad idea.”

“For once, I agree with Jaune,” Weiss conceded, looking a little as if she had just swallowed a mouse.

“Are you guys kidding? This is gonna be so awesome! We can make a ghost friend!” Ruby shouted, a gleeful smile on her face. “I am so in!”

“Well, I guess it could be interesting,” said Blake, amused but slightly concerned by her friends’ antics.

“I’ll go if the rest of you do,” Pyrrha giggled, her hand hiding her mouth.

“I’m always down for an adventure!” Yang agreed.

Ren didn’t respond, so much as raise his eyebrows, but they all knew that if Nora was doing anything, he would be right behind. His lips curled at the corners, so he clearly wasn’t completely opposed to the idea.

“C’mon! Don’t be babies! Let’s do this!” Nora yelled, jumping up in excitement.

Weiss just sighed, and Jaune grimaced, but nodded.

“Fine,” said Weiss, “but if we all get killed, I’m blaming you.

“Yes! It’s settled then!” said Nora.

“So. Are we going like, right now?” asked Ruby.

“No, you dunce. It’s already one in the morning, and none of us have any materials. No one has a sleeping bag or even a flashlight,” Weiss responded.

“Alright then. Tomorrow it is!” Yang grinned.

“Let’s meet up here at 8:30 tomorrow night! Bring flashlights and sleeping bags and whatever else you may want for a totally awesome sleepover,” Ruby said triumphantly. 

“I’ll bring a ouija board!” Nora pronounced.

“This is so exciting!” said Pyrrha, “I’ve never been to a real sleepover before! And I’ve never seen a ghost either!”

“Well, at least the rest of you are excited,” Jaune said mournfully, “I’ll start writing my obituary, in case we all die.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Blake.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” scoffed Ruby, “it’s gonna be great!”

“We don’t even know for sure that there  _ is _ a ghost,” said Ren, “it could just be rumors.”

“Either way, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!” said Yang.

“We should probably go home and get some sleep,” Weiss huffed.

“That’s right! I forgot about sleep!” Nora shouted, her mind always moving too fast to remember basic needs like sleep.

“Alright! Everybody out! See you tomorrow!” shouted Ruby.

Everyone grumbled and reluctantly filed out of the Rose-Xiao-Long household, carpooling home in Weiss’ fancy car, except Ren and Nora, who didn’t have permanent homes to go to, and more often than not, found themselves living with Ruby and Yang’s family.

The remaining kids flopped down to sleep, worried and excited about their next day haunted sleepover.

*****

No one actually got any sleep.

When they met up the next day, they all had bags under their eyes. But it was a Saturday, and the middle of Summer, so it was fine. They could all sleep the next day away.

“This is so awesome!” shouted Ruby, “Okay, does everybody have sleeping bags and water bottles and pajamas? And we’ve got snacks! And a ouija board!”

“What about toothbrushes?” asked Weiss.

“It may be kind of hard to brush our teeth in an old house without any running water,” Blake responded, eyebrows raised.

Weiss’ expression soured, not pleased to hear that she may have to forgo basic hygiene for the night. 

“Alright everyone! The sun is setting! We should head to the spooky house!” Ruby said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, considering they were about to go into a haunted house.

The group started walking up the road, Ruby and Nora skipping ahead, to the empty house at the top of the hill. In the light of the sunset, it didn’t look as terrifying as it did in the dead of night. It certainly didn’t look  _ haunted _ . It just looked like an old house.

“Alright, let’s do this” said Jaune, stepping forward to open the door, pausing when the handle didn’t fully turn, the door locked.

Ruby snickered at his failure to open the door, but Pyrrha was nearly glowing, happy to see Jaune display such bravery, to be the first person to volunteer to do something terrifying.

“Here,” said Blake, stepping up to the door and producing a bobby pin. She fiddled with the lock for a minute or two, and soon, the door swung open.

‘That. Was so cool,” Yang said, a grin stretched across her face.

Blake blushed. “It was nothing.”

“Sure,” Yang winked.

“If you two are done  _ flirting _ , let’s just get this over with,” Weiss said, stalking through the doorway, posture stiff and eyes rolling.

“Yeah! Let’s go BFF!” Ruby yelled as she dashed behind Weiss, not wanting to be left out of the excitement.

Everyone else filed in and placed their bags on the floor, Ren shutting the door behind them.

“Well, we’re here,” said Blake. “Now what?”

“Well obviously we explore! And wait for the ghosts!” Ruby yelled.

Jaune winced. “If there are any ghosts here, you probably just scared them away.”

“Nonsense!” Ruby cried, “Come out my ghostie friends!”

“I’m… not certain that that’s going to work,” Pyrrha squinted at her.

“Mehh. Either way, I’m going exploring! C’mon Weiss!” Ruby shouted, dragging Weiss behind her as she walked into the next room.

The house looked as if no one had lived in it for a long time. It was pretty dusty, and some parts of the walls and floor looked like they might need repairing. It had been a nice house, once, and if it was just cleaned up a little and the plumbing and electricity were turned on, it could be again. Ruby, though, would update the decorations. They looked a little old, like they were from the 1970’s or 80’s. Ick.

Weiss made a face as she looked around the living room that she and Ruby had walked into. “Gross. I’m totally going to get asbestos poisoning in this place! I should have brought a face mask. How about we open the windows, and get some ventilation in here. I can just feel the mold,” Weiss shuddered.

“Oh! Sounds great! The weather  _ is _ beautiful.”

Weiss just huffed and rolled her eyes as they went to the windows. She squealed when she reached one, “Ew! It’s all covered in dust! There is no  _ way _ that I am touching that surface!”

“Okay then!” said Ruby, “I guess we just leave them closed.”

“Oh my gosh! There’s a SPIDER!!” Weiss shrieked.

“Well, yeah! It’s an old house! There’s gonna be spiders!” Ruby responded with a giggle.

“Nope! Nope nope nope nope NOPE! Not doing  _ this _ !” Weiss yelled, dashing for the entrance.

Everyone else found their way back towards the entrance at the commotion, grabbing their flashlights. The sun was about to completely set, and it was getting difficult to see in the house.

“You dolts can have fun with your spiders, and your dust, and the creepy ghosts in this gross old house, but I am  _ not _ having it!” Weiss yelled. She reached the door and yanked on the handle. It didn’t move.

“Ren!” She yelled, “Did you lock us in here?” 

“I definitely left the door unlocked,” Ren responded quizzically. 

Weiss just huffed and tried to turn the lock. It didn’t move. She squinted and tried turning it the other way. Still nothing. She tried again. And again. Nothing happened. The lock didn’t turn, the door didn’t move.

“Okay,” she said, voice strained and high-pitched, “ _ Who _ broke the door? It! Won’t! Open!” She started desperately yanking on the door, starting to panic.

“I’m sure it’s fine!” said Yang, sounding a little worried, “Just try turning it the other way.”

“What do you think I was doing?” Weiss yelled back.

Yang, too, stated pulling and twisting at the door handle, to no avail. It was stuck in place, unmoving.

“Okay,” said Ruby, “how about we try the back door? Or maybe a window? Or, we could always just kick the door down. I’m sure Nora could do it.”

“Yeah. Yeah! It’s going to be fine! We’re not trapped in the creepy haunted house or anything,” Jaune spoke up, trying to force a smile. In the light of the flashlights, he looked a little pale, pressing into Pyrrha’s side.

“Okay.” Blake said. “Let’s try the back door. I think it’s through the kitchen.”

They all turned and followed Blake, each in a varying state of panic.

Because Blake was in the lead, she reached the back door of the house first. She tried the handle, and it didn’t move. “Maybe this one’s just locked?” she said, trying to turn the lock.

This lock didn’t move either. Blake’s eyes went wide, “Guys, this lock won’t turn either. I think we might be… locked in.”

“This may have been a bad idea,” said Yang.

“You  _ think _ ?” Weiss growled. “If you morons get me killed here, I’m going to kill all of you.”

“You don’t… really think we’re going to die here, do you?” Jaune asked.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine!” said Pyrrha. “This isn’t a horror movie! The doors are just old and they got stuck, is all. I’m sure we can get out through the windows!” 

“I like your optimism, Pyrrha!” Nora shouted, waving her flashlight around.

“Maybe we should stick together while we try the windows,” Ren said, “I’m not certain that I like this.”

“Alrightly!” yelled Ruby, “Everyone, follow me! I am going towards the left! We can try the windows in the living room first!”

The group filed behind her, not all of them actually fitting in the living room.

Ruby tried the first window. It didn’t budge. She tried to turn the locks on top of the lower windowpane, but they didn’t turn. “Ummm guys,” she said, “the locks are stuck.”

“Maybe this one’s just broken? Try the next one,” reasoned Yang.

The next one didn’t work either.

“Okay,” said Jaune, “how about we split up? We can go in groups of two, and that way we can cover the whole house faster. I’m sure we’ll find a window that works.”

“Yeah! Great plan Jaune!” Nora yelled. “Let’s go, Ren!”

Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha decided to try upstairs, while Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang decided to keep trying the first floor.

“Blake, Yang, you two take the right side of the house, we’ll take the left,” Ruby commanded, seeming, for a moment, older than fifteen.

The group split up into partners. Ruby and Weiss tried the other windows in the living room, and when those didn’t work, they moved onto the kitchen. None of those opened, either. 

They heard a loud “NO!” shouted from upstairs, which sounded an awful lot like Nora.

“She’s fine!” Pyrrha yelled down the stairs. “It’s just that none of the windows worked! No one is injured!”

Everyone let out a sigh of relief at that, and they all started to file back into the entryway. 

“So!” said Ruby, “Blake, Yang, anything work for you two?”

Yang sighed. “Nope.”

“Well. I think we might have to kick the door down. Nora, would you like to do the honors?” Ruby asked. 

“Heck yes!” yelled Nora. She approached the door, flashlight in hand, and raised her leg in front of her, prepared to use her terrifying strength to free them from their impromptu prison.

A giggle caused everyone to freeze in their tracks.

“Um.” said Jaune, “which one of you was that?”

They all shook their heads at each other and began pointing their flashlight beams around, looking for the source of the noise.

“Maybe it was just my imagination,” Jaune said. “Nora, go ahead.”

Nora picked her leg up again, everyone considerably more on edge than before.

She shoved her leg forward with all her might, just below where the door handle was. But instead of the door moving, Nora was flung back, the full force of her kick rebounding and sending her crashing to the floor. Ren ran over to help her up.

The giggle came again. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a young voice that no one recognized.

“It’s the ghost!” cried Jaune.

“Please don’t kill us!” Weiss yelled.

“Don’t worry, I’m not the biggest fan of murder,” the voice said dryly, as its owner stepped into the entryway. 

It was a teenaged boy, who couldn’t have been any older than fourteen. He was short, had freckles, and he was wearing suspenders. It was difficult to discern what color anything was, as he was washed out already, and the flashlights in the otherwise dark room didn’t help much. He was wreathed in a green aura, though, which surrounded him completely.

“Oh my gosh are you the ghost?” asked Ruby, excitement seeping into her voice.

“I might be,” he smirked.

“You’re adorable!” yelled Nora. “Wait! We don’t even need the ouija board!”

“We’ve been locked in this old house by a ghost and  _ that’s _ your first thought?” Weiss asked, taken aback by Nora’s  _ clearly _ skewed priorities.

“Well yeah! Look how cute he is!”

“Wait,” said Ruby, “ who… are you?”

“My name is Oscar,” he replied, “and I am kinda live here.”

“Are there more ghosts? Can you leave the house? Do you want to be friends?” Nora rapid-fired questions at him. “I need answers!!!”

“Did you… trap us in here?” asked Blake.

“Hey! You’re the ones invading  _ my _ house, I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking the questions,” he pouted.

“Can you let us go?” Ren asked.

“Hmmm… nope,” he grinned.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to kill us!?” protested Yang.

“Oh, well… I’ll let you go eventually, just not right now.”

“And why might that be?” Pyrrha asked gently.

“Well, usually trespassers cause me a lot of trouble. So, like, I’m trying to show you that there are consequences? I don’t want you people messing up my house, or doing whatever weird activities you probably had planned that I don’t want to bear witness to,” Oscar said uncertainly, crossing his arms over his chest and squinting at the group.

“So, what are we supposed to do while we’re here?” Ruby asked.

“Can we be friends?” Nora asked, “Because that’s, like, why we came here! I wanna be friends with the adorable little ghost boy!”

“Wha-what?” Oscar looked taken aback. “You came to a haunted house to… make friends? Should I be concerned?”

“No silly! We’re here for an awesome sleepover with our new friend Oscar!” she grinned.

“On purpose? You’re all insane.”

“Maybe,” said Yang, “but we’re here, and you’ve locked us in here, so… can we ask you some questions? We want to know what being a ghost is like!”

“Well, maybe you dummies want to sit around and have a sleepover with a ghost, but  _ I _ am seriously regretting involving myself with this,” Weiss said, turning up her nose at everyone. “Can  _ I _ go at least? We’ve established that none of us are here to cause trouble, and I didn’t want to be here in the first place!”

“Nooooo, Weiss! You have to stay! It won’t be as fun without my BFF!” Ruby whined, “Pretty please stay! Just for a little while!”

Weiss sighed. “Fine. Just because this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Yayyyy!” Ruby shouted.

“Oh my gosh everybody! Let’s get in a circle! Oh we can introduce ourselves! Hi! I’m Nora!!!” Nora shouted, excitement lacing her voice.

“And I’m Ruby! This is Weiss,” Ruby said, pointing at Weiss next to her, who rolled her eyes.

“I’m Yang!”

“Blake.”

“Pyrrha!”

“Jaune.”

“And Ren.”

“It’s um… nice to meet you all? And very confusing. I was not expecting my night to go this way at  _ all _ ,” Oscar said.

The group of teens collectively got out their sleeping bags and placed them in a circle, not wanting to stand there all night.

“So,” started Pyrrha, “how long have you been here, Oscar?”

“A while, I think. I’m really not sure how much time has passed.”

“How old are you?” Jaune asked. “You can’t be any older than my younger sister.”

Oscar giggled. “Well… I was fourteen. But now that I’ve been dead for a while, I guess I’m also a lot older than that. It’s like I’m fourteen and forty all at once! Except I definitely don’t feel like an adult.”

“So are you stuck here? Or can you leave?” asked Blake.

Oscar’s face dropped at that. “I’m stuck here, as far as I can tell. I haven’t been able to leave yet, which really doesn’t make sense, because this isn’t even where I died. This just used to be the house of someone I was close to, who has since left.”

“Can I ask… how did you die?” said Ruby.

He grimaced at that. “I-I’ve never told anyone before.”

Ruby backtracked, “Ah! You-you don’t have to! You really don’t have to talk about it! I was just curious! How about this! Do you like dogs?”

Oscar smiled slightly, “I love dogs.”

“O.M.G.” said Yang, “Do you want to see a picture of our dog Zwei? He’s so cute!”

His eyes lit up. “Yes! I would love to see your dog!”

Yang pulled out her phone, much to Oscar’s visible confusion, and pulled up some pictures of Zwei to show him.

“What on earth is this thing?” he queried, peering at her phone and attempting to grab it, only for his hands to phase through.

“Oh! It’s a phone!” she said, “You can do a ton of stuff on it, like make phone calls, and text, and take pictures, and play games, and surf the internet!”

Oscar just blinked in confusion. “Huh,” was all he could think to say.

“Did you go to Beacon High?” Weiss asked.

“No,” Oscar responded sheepishly. “I lived kinda far from here, actually. I was homeschooled, and I lived with my aunt.” 

“Is being dead fun? Have you ever haunted anyone?” Nora asked, eyes wide and gleaming.

“I’ve only ever scared away trespassers. I haven’t talked to anyone this much since I was killed,” he said.

“We can totally be your new friends!” Nora exclaimed at the same time that Weiss asked, “Wait, you were killed?”

“I think I could use some friends,” he mumbled, ducking his head in embarrassment, not used to affection of any kind after being on his own for so long.

“And yeah,” he continued, “I was kind of… shot.”

Everyone gasped at his admission, horrified.

“Who was it? I’ll kill them!” shouted Nora.

“I don’t think he’s still alive,” Oscar said, “so you may find that a bit of a difficult task.”

Ruby jumped up, and went and stood in the same place as Oscar, so that he was phasing through her.

“Um. Ruby, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m hugging you! It’s a ghost hug. C’mon. Return the ghost hug.”

He laughed at that, and attempted to put his arms around her in return. It didn’t work, but he felt a little better nonetheless. 

“Wait,” said Jaune, “can I give you something?”

“Sure,” Oscar replied, “but I’m not sure what good it will do.”

“Well, I’ve had this teddy bear since I was a little kid,” Jaune said, removing an old stuffed animal from his backpack, “and I thought, if you keep him with you here, then maybe you’ll be less alone. I can’t imagine that it would be all that fun living in this house all by yourself.”

Oscar’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “I can’t do that! I can’t take your childhood bear from you!” he said, waving his arms.

“Nonsense!” Jaune replied. “If anyone needs Mr. Bear, it’s you,” he finished with a smile. Jaune took the bear and placed it next to where Oscar stood in their circle, which prompted him to sit on the floor and join them. 

“Thank you,” said Oscar, his voice strained. If he still had the ability to, a part of him thought he might start crying. 

“Oh! Oscar, do you want to watch a movie? I brought my laptop!” said Pyrrha.

“Sure,” he said, cocking his head. “What’s a laptop?”

Everyone giggled at that. “It’s kind of a computer, but it’s portable!” Pyrrha explained.

“What do you guys think about ‘The Man With Two Souls’?” Blake asked. “It’s my favorite book ever, but I never got to see the movie.”

“Sure!” said Ruby, and no one else objected, so they found the movie online, and pulled it up on Pyrrha’s laptop. Oscar looked mystified by the whole procedure, given that he hadn’t been around much for the past several decades, and didn’t have any idea what was happening.

All of the kids gathered around Pyrrha, hoping to get a good view of the movie.

“Oscar! My son! Come sit over here!” said Nora, patting the space next to her.

“Your… son?” he asked, baffled.

“Yes. I’m adopting you. I’m your mom now. It’s official.”

He stared at her. “Aren’t you… also a teenager? And I’m technically older than you?”

“Shhhhh,” she said, putting a finger up to his mouth. “You’re my son now. No protesting.” 

Ren shared a look with Oscar and shrugged, a smile on his face.

They all turned their flashlights off, content to look at the screen in the dark, and to try and save some battery life.

After a few minutes, Ruby looked away from the screen, and noticed Oscar. “Oscar!” she gasped, “You’re glowing!” 

Everyone turned to look at him. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I sort of… have a little bit of a green glow.”

“That’s so cool! You’re like a human nightlight! Having a ghost friend is super awesome!” Ruby responded, eyes wide and excited.

Oscar covered his face with his hands, embarrassed at the attention. “Maybe we should just watch the movie,” he muttered into his hands, still hiding.

When everyone was preoccupied again, Oscar removed his hands from his face. He found that he really liked the movie. For some reason, it reminded him of Oz, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on the reason why. He tried and failed to lean up against his new friends, and found himself slightly saddened that he couldn’t touch them. He was surrounded by people, but he was alone. At least, he thought to himself, he was a lot less alone than he had been before these other kids had stumbled into his life, and he allowed himself to melt into the joy of the moment. 

He was glad that he was finally getting to experience life as a teenager. He had never gotten to go to high school, never had a lot of friends, never had a sleepover like this. And now, a whole bunch of kids had dropped into his lap. He let himself smile, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had been this happy.

By the time the movie was over, his new friends all looked exhausted. It was getting into the early hours of the morning. “You should all rest,” he said. “If you want to, you can all go home. I’m really sorry for locking you all in the house, but it was nice to meet all of you.”

“Nah,” yawned Yang, “we’ve got our sleeping bags. We can all sleep here!”

“Oh, okay. Well, goodnight then,” he responded.

He was met with various calls of ‘goodnight’s’ and he sat and watched as his friends all drifted off to sleep. He smiled, content.

When they all woke up in the light of the morning, Oscar was nowhere to be seen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha! There's a chapter 2!

Oscar watched the group leave his house from his spot in the attic. He wasn’t any good at goodbyes, so rather than face the inevitable loneliness head-on, he just hid, and allowed the other kids to leave uninterrupted. He could see them looking around for him, and he heard them shouting his name, but they had eventually realized that he wasn’t going to say farewell, and they all headed to their respective homes.

They all trudged up the driveway and down the street with slumped shoulders, and he felt bad about not saying anything, but he didn’t think he could handle facing the fact that he would once again be alone. His new friends had visited him once, satisfied their curiosity, and soon they would be moving on with their lives. They would forget about Oscar, and he would spend the rest of eternity trapped in this stupid house. 

He sighed, and slumped against the wall of the attic. He thought about crying, but at this point, he was too numb. Oscar had long ago become resigned to this lonely fate, and though this new abandonment sent a shock of pain through his heart, it, too, faded into the emotional emptiness that hung over him. He couldn’t leave, he couldn’t do anything. 

He sighed harder, and leaned even more against the wall, sinking all the way to the floor.

He yelped when he found himself looking at darkness. He pushed himself back into a seated position, and found that his head had phased into the wall.

“What the heck?” he muttered to himself.

Did he really just… phase through an outer wall?

That was… new. He had never managed to pass through one of the walls that led to outside, not even once.

Oscar shook his head. Maybe he had just imagined that. He  _ was _ in a weird place emotionally. Maybe he just missed his new friends so badly that he wanted to follow them outside. He was a ghost, and he was stuck in this house until the end of time… right?

Hesitantly, hopefully, Oscar took his hand and held it to the attic wall.

“Okay. Okay. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I am not going to get my hopes up. I have no expectations,” he said to himself, trying to keep calm.”

He took a deep breath, a habit from the time when he was alive, and  _ pressed _ his hand against the wall. 

Oscar  _ definitely _ didn’t let out a high-pitched screech when he kept falling forward and stumbled to his knees, his arm going  _ through _ the wall. His arm had sunk into the wall up to his elbow. And… the walls weren’t that thick. So, presumably, part of his arm was actually outside the house.

His eyes widened in disbelief. He had never left before, not even a little. This was  _ new _ . He didn’t know what had changed, but he could go through the outside walls now. He could go  _ outside _ . This meant that he could leave! He wasn’t trapped anymore!

Oscar let out a lengthy shrieking noise and flapped his hands. He could leave! He could leave!! This was the best day of his afterlife!

Rather than do anything sensible, like walking down the stairs and through a door, Oscar took a few steps back, got a running start, and jumped through the wall. Like an idiot.

Suddenly, he was no longer supported by any surface, and he was falling. Through the air. And everything was brightly colored and blue and green and the green was approaching much too fast and he closed his eyes and felt his body jerk to a sudden halt.

Hesitantly, Oscar opened his eyes. He was in the grass! He was in the grass. He was… stuck in the grass. He had landed so that his legs were stuck in the ground, and his upper body was sticking out of the ground, like he had landed in a hole. That didn’t really make any sense, or maybe it did. He apparently had no understanding of ghost physics.

If he could go through the ground, then he had to be able to pull himself out. Probably? Yeah, that made sense. He tried pushing himself out, and found his hands sinking into the ground too. That might be a problem. At least he could pull them back out, though. He tried again, and again. He was starting to get frustrated. He had finally managed to leave the house, only to be trapped in the ground.

Oscar groaned and leaned backwards. This was a spectacularly stupid situation. At least he could watch the clouds from here. For some reason that he didn’t understand at all, his upper body stayed above the surface.

He had missed the clouds, and the sunshine, and the plants. He couldn’t feel the breeze or the warmth of the sun, but it was so nice to be outside instead of stuck in the house. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy. Except for the night before, when he had made a bunch of friends. 

There were so many clouds, and they were all in so many different shapes! He saw one that kind of looked like a bird, and another that resembled a flower, and another one that kind of looked like a lightning bolt. 

Oscar wasn’t sure how long he laid there, looking at the clouds, but eventually he felt himself relaxing. If he was going to be stuck in place forever, this wasn’t such a bad spot. He stretched, and went to stand up, and found himself blinking in surprise. His legs were, inexplicably, no longer stuck in the ground. He didn’t really understand why, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He pushed himself to his feet, and tried to concentrate on staying above ground this time. He did it! He was free! Really free this time! He could be a person again! He could have some sort of life!

Maybe he could visit his friends! Although he didn’t exactly know where any of them lived, so that might present some challenges. He didn’t know where Oz might be, or his aunt, or if either of them were even still alive. It occurred to him that… he didn’t actually know what to do with himself.

Wait! He could go places now! He could walk around! He could explore! He could have some sort of adventure! 

Oscar was not remotely familiar with the area, but he refused to let that stop him. If nothing else, he could walk down the street, right?

He took a right and started walking down the sidewalk, wincing with every step, and trying really hard to stay solid and aboveground. He wasn’t sure if he actually needed to consciously try to stay sort-of corporeal in order to not sink through the sidewalk, and he knew for a fact that if anyone saw him, he probably looked really stupid. On the bright side, no one was around, and also he was dead, so it probably wouldn’t matter if he embarrassed himself, but he still cringed at the thought of anyone seeing him walking so gingerly. 

Oscar had to admit to himself, walking down the street after not being able to for so long felt really good. He had definitely taken it for granted before. He grinned to himself. He could actually walk down the street now. In fact, he could probably go wherever he wanted! This was the most excitement he had had in ages! He still didn’t understand what had changed, or why he was suddenly able to leave the house. Maybe it had something to do with his friends?

Oscar was knocked from his musings by the barking of a dog, which seemed to be getting louder. Suddenly, a small black and white dog was jumping at him.

Oscar shrieked and jumped back. It’s not that he didn’t like dogs, he did! He was just very unprepared to have one jumping at him.

“Down, Zwei!” a voice yelled from behind him. A blond man ran into view, panting and holding a leash. “Zwei! You can’t just jump at random people- are you alright? You look kind of… pale. And see-through. Are you just a figment of my imagination?” the man asked Oscar.

Oscar spluttered, “Wah- I- I’m fine! I’m just like this. I’m real! And I am mostly a person!”

“Um,” said the man, “my name is Taiyang, but you can call me Tai, and I’m… really not sure what to do here. Would you like to come in and sit down?”

“Sure,” Oscar giggled. He wasn’t sure if he  _ could _ sit anywhere without sinking through the chair. Should he tell the man he was a ghost? Tai seemed nice enough, but he didn’t want to scare him. Maybe he should just leave. But also, he wanted to see if he could pet the dog, which he thought looked an awful lot like Yang and Ruby’s dog. Also, he hadn’t interacted with any people other than his new friends from the night before in literal decades, so maybe he should give it a try? And really, the most important thing was that there’s a dog.

He followed the man through the front door, keeping his eyes on the dog, a smile on his face. If he was alive, he would probably be concerned that he might be about to get murdered, but he was already dead, so it’s not like it was much of a concern. Still, he should probably try to exercise some common sense. Or not. He sometimes felt like he was missing the voice in his head that was supposed to tell him to make smart choices. Oh well! There was a cute dog that needed petting! Caution could wait.

The house seemed decently-sized, and looked like it was lived in. There was a red cape draped over a chair, and boxing gloves hanging on a hook. He could hear voices from another room, yelling over each other, but in a way that sounded like they were having fun. It seemed like a home. He found himself missing his new friends, and a wave of sadness descended over him. He would probably never see them again.

“So… are you alright, kid? You seem kind of… not exactly… solid? I’ve got to say, I’ve never seen a person that looked so much like a ghost.”

“Well, it’s a bit of a funny story, but I might… kind of… be a ghost?” Oscar said, unsure of himself.

“Wow, really?” Tai asked. “Kids, get in here! Do you want to meet a ghost?”

Oscar shifted, slightly uncomfortable at the thought of being subject to scrutiny like this. He could always leave, he reminded himself. 

He jumped as two very familiar teenagers ran into the room, and was met with shocked cries of “Oscar?”

He looked up and locked eyes with Ruby and Yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops it's been like a month. My bad! Make good choices friends! Also, I'm trying to add more to this, but I'm kinda stuck. Anybody got any plot ideas?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, baby! And this fic has a plot now!

Oscar blinked in surprise. “Ruby? Yang? How? What are you doing here?”

“We live here, silly!” said Ruby. “How are you here? I thought you couldn’t leave?!”

Oscar threw his hands up in frustration.“That’s the weird thing! I couldn’t? I tried so many times, but I wasn’t able to leave the house until today. I have no idea what’s happening. Also, your family seems awfully calm about the prospect of a ghost being in your house. Are you okay? Should I be concerned?”

Yang laughed at his concern, “We’re fine! Also, we have totally gotta figure this out. Let’s call everyone over!”

“Sure,” Oscar smiled.

It took a few minutes, during which Oscar wandered around the house, for all of RWBYJNPR to arrive. When Nora arrived, she was so excited to see him that she tried to jump on him in a hug, which didn’t work. She went flying into the wall at high speeds, but she jumped back up immediately and shouted “I’m fine!”

They all regarded him with a mixture of both confusion and excitement, no one actually understanding what was happening. Oscar waved meekly as his friends circled around him. It was certainly weird being stared at after so long with a lack of human contact. 

“So,” started Pyrrha, “you’re out of the house! That’s exciting! But what now?”

Oscar shrugged. “I have no idea what to do next. I was hoping you guys could help me figure it out.”

All nine of them exchanged looks of confusion. None of them actually had any answers.

Ruby and Yang’s dad cleared his throat at the awkward silence. “Well, I don’t know much about the supernatural, but I do know of someone who might be able to help you. I haven’t seen him in a while though, so you might have to do some work to find him.”

“Dad! Don’t just leave us hanging like that! Who is it?” Ruby asked.

“His name is Ozpin, but in some circles he’s known as Oz. He used to be the headmaster of your school, but he disappeared last year, and no one has heard from him since,” Tai said.

“Wait,” Oscar butted in, “Ozpin can help us? I know him! He used to be a friend of mine!”

“So where is he, then?” Blake asked, turning to Oscar.

Oscar grimaced. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him since I- you know- died? We haven’t exactly been in contact.” His shoulders slumped.

“Well, guess we need to do some research. I’m sure we can find him!” said Jaune. “Also, what happened to my bear?”

“Oh no! I left the Mr. Bear! Also yeah! I’m sure we can go to the library,” Oscar said.

They all giggled at that statement. “It’s okay, I’m sure Mr. Bear is fine,” Jaune said. “Also, we can just do research from our phones and computers! So we don’t have to go anywhere.”

“Oh. Well, let’s do it, then,” Oscar grinned sheepishly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also sorry for the super short chapter, I really wanted to write and post something today, but current events have seriously been throwing me for a loop. Don't worry! This story will be continuing! I know a lot of you liked it :D! Stay safe everyone!!


	4. Chapter 4

It took hours of research for them to find anything promising, or even remotely helpful. Oscar couldn’t do anything, so he just floated around between them, trying to offer moral support. He felt bad, since they were doing all of this to help him figure out how to be a ghost, but he couldn’t return the favor.

But he could float around the house. It was so weird being in a different place, now. All of his afterlife, he had been stuck in the same place. But being with these people- his friends- he felt more whole, more alive than he had in a long while. He felt strangely fond of them all, and it tethered him to the world. It was new, and different, and incredible.

Could having friends have been what allowed him to leave, suddenly? He wasn’t sure, and it probably didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but he didn’t have much of an understanding of what being a ghost truly  _ meant _ , or why he was even a ghost in the first place. Did other ghosts exist? Was he alone? He hoped that Ozpin might have some answers for him, because he couldn’t remember ever being this confused in his entire life.

It would be nice to see Ozpin again, too. He missed his mentor. He missed his aunt, too. He missed everything about being alive. What he  _ didn’t _ miss was learning military secrets and getting shot for it. That had sucked an awful lot. 

Did his aunt even know that he was dead? Or did she just think that he had run away and never returned? Ozpin would’ve told her, right?

He was pulled from his spiralling thoughts by a loud bark coming from right at his feet.

“Hello Zwei! Do you want to play?” he asked.

Zwei barked at him again, his tail wagging.

Oscar floated over to a nearby ball on the floor, and reached to grab it. His hand went right through it and he groaned, frustrated. He tried again, and his hand was just as ineffective at moving the ball as before. 

He could do this, he knew he could. He was determined to move this ball. He couldn’t spend the rest of forever unable to interact with anything, that would be incredibly  _ boring _ . Sure, he had spent years just floating around that old house and staring at the walls, but he wasn’t particularly interested in living that life again, not now that he was no longer trapped.

Oscar took a deep breath, despite the fact that the action was pointless, and thought about his friends. How amazing they were. How full of life. He kept his mind on all of the things that kept him grounded in this world and reached for the ball.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he grabbed at it, worried that it wouldn’t work. But when he opened his eyes, he was holding the ball in his hand, feeling just a little more solid.

He let out an excited  _ whoop _ , and bounced in the air, vibrating with excitement. Unfortunately, this caused his concentration to wane, and the ball promptly fell back through his hand, which was once again incorporeal. 

Zwei came over to the ball and sniffed at it, then looked back up at Oscar, tilting his head in confusion. To be fair to the dog, it  _ was _ a pretty sad game of fetch.

Oscar deflated in annoyance at his misfortune. Apparently, existing and being a somewhat solid person would require massive amounts of concentration. Awesome.

He hoped, though, that it was something he could get better at, like a skill. Or maybe it would be kind of like exercising a muscle, and would come easier to him with time and effort. If not, it would certainly be a hassle. On the bright side, he could interact with his surroundings now! That was certainly better than where he was before.

Sure, he was still dead, and it’s not like he could undo that, but maybe things would get better. Optimism was always a good thing to have, right?

He jolted at a loud noise from the living room, where all of the other kids were doing their research. Oscar floated in to see them all in various visible states of frustration, and he couldn’t restrain a laugh.

“What’s wrong? You all look like somebody died,” he said, grinning.

“Oh, no! Nobody died!” Pyrrha shouted, waving her arms. “We’re just having some difficulty finding where Ozpin might be.”

Oscar giggled again. “Lighten up a little, guys! I’m sure you can all figure it out. And if you can’t, I’m starting to think I might have some idea of where he could be.”

Everyone perked up at that. “Why didn’t you say so?” Ruby asked, voice rising in excitement.

“Well, I just thought of it,” Oscar said sheepishly. “I was just thinking that since Ozpin is, well, knowledgeable of the supernatural, he might be somewhere with a lot of supernatural occurrences. I think that makes sense, but, y’know, I could be wrong,” he shrugged.

“Hm. I suppose the idea  _ does _ have some merit,” Weiss said, resting her chin on her fist. “I wouldn’t be opposed to switching the research objective.”

“Ah, Weiss. Always so formal,” Ruby giggled at her.

“Wha- hey! My speech patterns are perfectly normal, thank you very much,” Weiss turned her head away, miffed. 

“Wait, no that wasn’t an insult! It’s just funny how you speak so differently from the rest of us!” Ruby backtracked.

Weiss turned back to Ruby and narrowed her eyes. “Uh huh.”

“Oh come on!” Ruby pleaded. “We’re best friends! That’s what best friends do!”

“Fine,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes. “But  _ you _ speak like a commoner.”

Ruby launched herself at Weiss in a hug, who shrieked at the unexpected contact.

“Get off of me, you dolt!” Weiss shouted, trying to push Ruby off.

“Aw, you love me. We’re super besties!” Ruby proclaimed cheerfully.

“Oh my gosh, no!” Weiss responded.

“Everybody, group hug!” Yang yelled from nearby, promptly joining the scuffle and wrapping her arms around both Weiss and Ruby. “You too, Oscar! Get in here!”

Oscar laughed at the scene in front of him and glided over to join the hug to the best of the ability. The rest of the students joined in, leaving the irritated Weiss at the center of a giant group hug. Oscar watched her slump in defeat, before reluctantly leaning into the hug.

“Alright, everyone,” Blake said. “Back to research. We have a lead, now.”

The group hug broke up, and they all walked back over to their respective laptops and phones. Oscar, bored, floated among them and looked at all of the screens. All this new technology still felt weird to him.

After a few minutes, he heard Jaune’s voice pipe up. “How about this place- Kuroyuri? It seems to have a lot of supernatural activity.”

Oscar saw Ren stiffen and exchange a glance with Nora. He creased his eyebrows in concern, worried for his friends.

“Yeah, I’m sure it  _ does _ have a lot of supernatural occurrences,” Nora muttered darkly.

Oscar was seriously getting worried. “Well, we don’t know. He might not be there. He could be somewhere else!”

“I think it looks promising,” Yang said. None of them had seen Ren and Nora’s reactions.

Ren let out a strained breath. “We shouldn’t go to Kuroyuri.”

“Why not?” Ruby asked.

“It’s a bad place, with a lot of bad memories, and a lot of spilled blood. We should stay far away,” Ren said, abruptly getting up and walking into another room.

“Ren!” Nora shouted, following after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst? In my fluff? Yeah  
> Also I wanted to officially state for the record that I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm just... vibing.  
> This is kinda taking place in some weird modern version of Remnant! :D  
> Have an awesome day my friends!


End file.
